Discoms gearing up to meet winter demand

NEW DELHI: BSES Yamuna and Rajdhani are gearing up to meet the winter demand. While the demand peaked at 4,405MW in the second week of January in 2015, the discoms are expecting it to climb up to 4,600MW this winter.

A spokesperson for the two Reliance-backed power companies said they were fully prepared for the winter months. "In case of any unforeseeable contingency, we will buy short-term power," he added.

The BSES discoms are also using advanced techniques like banking and backdown to dispose of surplus power during the winter and making arrangements to get it back during the next summer. The companies will also use advanced forecasting solution to get the power requirement right, the spokesperson said.

South and central Delhi areas, which come under BSES Rajdhani, had seen the peak power demand of 1,862MW last winter. This year it's expected to touch around 1,955MW mark. "To reduce night surplus power, BRPL is supplying 300MW to Kerala during night hours," said an official.

In east Delhi, BSES Yamuna had handled the peak demand of 930MW last winter and is ready to meet the expected demand of 950MW this year.

"The discom will also receive an additional 165MW from UP and Punjab between 8am and 1pm through banking from December 2015 to February 2016. This will be returned between July and September 2016," said an official. To reduce the night surplus, the discom is supplying 300MW. Both the discoms will also bank 100MW each with Jammu and Kashmir between November 2015 and March 2016.